The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to controlling fan speeds in order to cool an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems and networking systems.
As IHSs have increased in computing power, the cooling requirements of IHSs have increased. In order to meet these cooling requirements, fans are added to IHS chassis to cool its heat producing components. As fans affect component performance, noise levels and power consumption, it is desirable to control the speed of these fans in order to optimize power, thermals and acoustics. However, the control of fan speed in an IHS raises a number of issues.
Fan speeds are typically controlled using a single linear fan speed curve. A typical cooling method involves detecting an ambient temperature and using that temperature to identify a fan speed on the linear fan speed curve that will move an appropriate volume of air through the IHS chassis to cool the components. However, the actual heat output of a component or a group of components in the IHS chassis may not be linear, and can vary significantly based on the configuration of the IHS. Accordingly, a linear fan speed curve is often not well matched to the heat output of the IHS, resulting in non-optimal cooling of the IHS. This may lead to poor performance, failure of various components, excessive power consumption, excessive noise generation, and may decrease the lifespan of the fan.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved fan speed control.